South Georgia Islands, Part Two


On our last day in the South Georgia Islands, we were given a choice. We could either replicate Shackleton’s route to the Grytviken whaling station, starting from Fortuna Bay, OR we could take a zodiac ride. You’ve probably guessed which one I chose, but in case you didn’t, here’s a visual.

Climbing into the zodiac

Boris, our cruise director, was quite specific in his description of the hike: “ It is about 4 miles long, and VERY steep. You will be ascending about 1000 feet. You can take water with you, but no food. And there are no bathrooms, so control your water consumption. Once you get dropped off, there is NO turning back, so be absolutely sure you can make it. The boat will pick you up at the whaling station”.

My interpretation, although he didn’t specifically SAY it, was “you could die”. And I probably WOULD have.

The start of Shackleton’s trail. The hikers are the orange and blue dots.

Despite his dire description of the event, 30 people signed up for the hike. After sleeping on it, six people changed their minds, so 24 of my cruise mates, including my hero Paul, (who helped me up when I fell, on an earlier hike,) and my kayak buddy, Marc (who is my age) made the trek.

They made it!

As for me, I went on an absolutely fantastic zodiac cruise, where we saw waterfalls,

Macaroni Penguins,

Here’s a close up of these adorable little guys

fur seals,

Equally cute, so they get a close up too.

and elephant seals

No close up for THESE guys

It was a perfect zodiac cruise. Once again, we were blessed with ideal weather. But wait, there’s more…

While at the Grytviken whaling station, we toasted Shackleton at his gravesite,

visited the museum,

Baby albatross
Artifacts outside

and were able to send postcards from the only post office we had encountered, so far.

We set sail for the Falklands in the afternoon, and spent the next two days at sea.

I’m not going to describe the seas as rough. Let’s just say I was extremely grateful for my patch.

Published by

Unknown's avatar

Shelley

I am intensely curious, with a spirit of adventure that is tempered by my very strong aversion to anything with potential to cause pain. I love travel, photography, reading, gardening, yoga, music and propelling myself through space (biking, dancing, walking, dancing while walking). I've never considered a lack of proficiency in any of the previous activities to be a hindrance, counting on abundant enthusiasm to make up for my shortcomings.

One thought on “South Georgia Islands, Part Two”

I'd love to hear YOUR thoughts! Please share them!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.